TODAY1) Stuff that has been graded – are you keeping up? And

some comments.2) Due today: Visual/Verbal arguments as .jpg or .png

uploaded to Tumblr (remember the criteria for grading)

3) The remainder of the semester4) Three challenges for you as students in a digital world

(think hard)5) Homework

Graded stuff…I hope you’ve been keeping track, but grades are posted for your work to this point in class.

I didn’t send comments on the typography projects because the grades– I hope– are self-explanatory, but if you have any questions I invite you, as always, to come talk to me about them.

Likewise with the mid-term, though we talked through that last class… if you were here.

Of note…The big thing I wanted to talk about with the typography projects is that I hope you’re all taking your work seriously and putting in the proper effort.

Some of the typography remixes were amazing. Well done! But some of you will want to take a look at your grade and consider again the grading criteria. What plagued a few of your projects was simply a lack of execution. Remember, of course, that you can revise those projects if you wish.

Along those lines…Your visual-verbal argument is due today. You might want to, before submitting, look again at the assignment and think through what it asks.

It says:

Visual-Verbal Argument•For this assignment–and all argument assignments from here on– you will make an argument about some aspect of your focal topic.•We started with just text. Now we will layer in still images. You will make a single document that incorporates images and text. As with all arguments, you will target yours for specific purpose(s), audience(s), and context(s), including the specific venues of where you might publish this argument were you to do so (e.g., an ad in X magazine, a billboard in X location, an ad on a bus in X city, a web site posted to what social networks, etc.)•When you turn in your final draft, you will also turn in at least a 1-2 page single-spaced essay analyzing and explaining your use of visual and verbal rhetoric. Be certain to draw directly from specific terms and concepts from the readings so far this semester.•Remember that this argument should draw from some aspect of your focal research. You’re making a specific argument about a specific thing to a specific audience at a specific time. This is a calculated rhetorical action.

For the rest of the semester…Over the course of today and Thursday, we’re going to talk again about intellectual property law and the idea of copyright/ownership. The three classes following that will look at video games as a learning space and as a cultural spaceAfter that, we will spend three classes talking about the future of the printed word. Then we circle back and look at one final text before presenting and ending the semester.

So for today…We have discussed the term “copyright” and the implications of intellectual property law a bit in class before.

We returned to that discussion for a bit when discussing the exam last class and the phenomenon of “sexting.”

So for today, a few things. First, I want to show you something a little disturbing. You can thank one of your classmates for alerting me to it existing…

https://twitter.com/MiamiYogapants

So…What do we think of this Twitter account?

More importantly, from a class perspective, is it legally okay? Is it ethical?

Please note that Dr. Phill finds this site problematic and reprehensible, but it exists and we’re studying the real digital world, not Dr. Phill’s ideal version of the digital world. Dr. Phill does not condone such activities.

Just as before……with the question of “sexting,” this is an issue of network distribution and the rights to images.

Do the young women being pictured here give their consent? Can we tell? Can we assume? How might we find out?

Does it matter?

A second thing to ponder…

… is the real implications of the idea of “fair use.”

Fair use has often been the wildcard in discussions of intellectual property. But is it really the shield/umbrella-ella-ella-eh-eh-eh we think it is? (yes, I just stole from Rhianna)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

Remember: Copyright:

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. Generally, it is "the right to copy", but also gives the copyright holder the right to be credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other forms, who may perform the work, who may financially benefit from it, and other related rights. It is a form of intellectual property (like the patent, the trademark, and the trade secret) applicable to any expressible form of an idea or information that is substantive and discrete*

*from Wikipedia

Factor 1: Purpose/CharacterThe first factor is regarding whether the use in question helps fulfill the intention of copyright law to stimulate creativity for the enrichment of the general public, or whether it aims to only "supersede the objects" of the original for reasons of personal profit. To justify the use as fair, one must demonstrate how it either advances knowledge or the progress of the arts through the addition of something new. A key consideration is the extent to which the use is interpreted as transformative, as opposed to merely derivative. * *from Wikipedia– via the link on the previous slide

Factor 2: Nature of Work

fair use analyses consider certain aspects of the work to be relevant, such as whether it is fictional or non-fictional.To prevent the private ownership of work that rightfully belongs in the public domain, facts and ideas are separate from copyright—only their particular expression or fixation merits such protection. On the other hand, the social usefulness of freely available information can weigh against the appropriateness of copyright for certain fixations.*

*again

Factor 3: Amount/SubstanceThe third factor assesses the quantity or percentage of the original copyrighted work that has been imported into the new work. In general, the less that is used in relation to the whole, ex: a few sentences of a text for a book review, the more likely that the sample will be considered fair use. *

*from Wikipedia– via the link on the previous slide

Factor 4: Effect on work’s valueThe fourth factor measures the effect that the allegedly infringing use has had on the copyright owner's ability to exploit his or her original work. *

*again

And now, 3 challengesLet’s see how adept you are at navigating your digital world. On the next slide are three challenges. I want you to complete them and email me the three results.

Challenge 1: Find an original idea online that hasn’t stolen anything from anyone

Challenge 2: “Borrow” something and repurpose it to make an argument about your focal topic

Challenge 3: Using the machines in this lab, procure a high quality, listenable, redistributable file of one of the following six songs:

Cry Me a River: Justin TimberlakeNo Rain: Blind MelonHunger Strike: Temple of the DogRunning up that Hill: Kate BushMoves like Jagger: Maroon 5Honky Tonk Women: The Rolling Stones

Email results to alexanp3 at MiamiOh dot Edu

For ThursdayYou’re going to read about a fellow named Kim Dotcom. The link is on the schedule page. The articles both originally appeared in WIRED magazine.

Please be responsible and do the reading. If I ask the my first question and no one can answer, we’ll have to resort to more quiz-related humiliation, and honestly, I don’t want to be “that” professor. Remember that it’s your class, too. You get out of it what you put in.

See you all Thursday!